Boundary Dilemmas and Depth of Therapeutic Exploration: Documentation of School Counselor Supervision Practices in the Indian Context

Description

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22305106

Marisha Rathore (School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra)

Clinical supervision is an important part of ethical and effective counseling practice, yet many school counselors in India work with limited access to regular clinical supervision and within systems where their professional role is not always protected. This practice documentation follows a structured group supervision process with three mid-career school counselors working in urban Indian schools. The central dilemma explored was the erosion of professional boundaries through substitute teaching, administrative duties, disciplinary expectations, and repeated interruption of counseling time. These conditions contributed to what this paper describes as therapeutic timidity: hesitation to enter emotionally demanding, trauma-related, or highly vulnerable material because continuity, containment, and institutional support could not be assured. The supervision process drew on the Integrated Developmental Model, school counseling supervision approaches, and culturally informed social justice supervision. Data included supervisor reflections, supervisee journal entries, session notes, and process documentation across six supervision sessions. The process suggested that reluctance to pursue therapeutic depth was not simply a lack of competence or confidence. It often reflected ethical caution and concern for students. Supervision helped the counselors locate some of their distress within the system rather than only within themselves, reduced self-blame, strengthened boundary awareness, and supported more deliberate use of pacing and containment. The paper positions supervision as an ethical and relational structure that can sustain professional identity and therapeutic capacity in Indian school settings.